Benefits of mitral valve repair over replacement in the elderly: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

OBJECTIVES: Mitral valve (MV) repair has demonstrated excellent short- and long-term outcomes, however, its merit in the elderly population is still debated. We conducted a meta-analysis of studies that have compared the MV repair to replacement in the elderly population. METHODS: A systematic literature search was conducted for any study published on MV surgery on elderly patients (≥75 years old). A pooled risk-ratio meta-analysis was done to evaluate short-term mortality, postoperative complications, surgical timings, and long-term survival rates. RESULTS: A total of nine retrospective observational studies were included in the quantitative meta-analysis. Pooled meta-analysis showed a reduced risk of short-term mortality for the MV repair group (risk ratio [RR] = 0.41 [0.24-0.71], p-value = .005). Postoperative neurological complications were in favor of repair, although not significantly (RR = 0.49 [0.21-1.11], p-value = .07). Operative timings (cardiopulmonary bypass and crossclamp time) were not different between the groups although no data were available on the complexity of the repairs. Long-term survival rates were in favor of the repairs (pooled treatment effect of -0.47 [-0.64; -0.29], p = .005). CONCLUSIONS: MV surgery is a safe and effective procedure for the elderly. MV repair demonstrated better short-term outcomes compared to replacement. Long-term survival rates are significantly better after repair.

Impact of Isolated Tricuspid Valve Repair on Right Ventricular Remodelling in an Adult Congenital Heart Disease Population.

BACKGROUND: Surgical repair of isolated congenital tricuspid valve (TV) disease is rare with no well-defined indication and outcomes. Moreover, the role of right ventricle (RV) in this context has not yet been investigated. OBJECTIVES: We sought to assess the impact of congenital TV repair on cardiac remodelling and clinical-functional status and the importance of the RV function in an adult congenital heart disease (ACHD) population. METHODS AND RESULTS: From January 2005 to December 2015, 304 patients underwent TV surgery in our centre. Of these, 27 (ACHD) patients had isolated TV repair. Patients were evaluated with preoperative and postoperative transthoracic echocardiogram. Survival rate has been investigated with a mean clinical follow-up (FU) of 3.7 ± 2.3 years, whereas the mean echocardiographic FU was 2.9 ± 1.8 years. The clinical and functional status of patients showed a statistically significant improvement after the surgical repair in terms of New York Heart Association class (66.7 vs 7.4%; p < 0.01), clinical signs of heart failure (29.6 vs 7.4%; p < 0.01), and left ventricular function (14.8 vs 7.4%; p < 0.01). The RV and right atrium diameter were significantly reduced after surgery (5.15 ± 1.21 vs 4.32 ± 1.16; p < 0.01) and (44.7 ± 16.7 vs 26.7 ± 9.2; p < 0.01), respectively. The degree of postoperative pulmonary hypertension was also significantly reduced (40.7 vs 7.4%; p < 0.01). The survival rate was 96.3% at 1 year and 93.7% at 5 years. One patient (3.7%) had early failure of the tricuspid repair requiring a reoperation. CONCLUSION: Isolated TV repair for adult congenital disease significantly improved patients' clinical and functional status and allowed right ventricular remodelling and functional improvement.

Off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting in high-risk patients: a review.

The role of off-pump coronary artery bypass (OPCAB) grafting in high risk patients remains controversial. While there have been studies showing the potential benefits of it, there is still a lot to be learned from the application of this technique in this sub-group of patients. The results of the different trials and papers that we reviewed seem to indicate a benefit in the OPCAB group. Despite of the fact that trials were significantly different in methodology, especially when choosing the risk score stratification tool or the cut-off to define high risk the literature seems to suggest a benefit from the use of OPCAB surgery. Here, we present a review which focussed on early and late outcome in high risk patients undergoing on- and off-pump coronary revascularization.

Impact of off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting on survival: current best available evidence.

The superiority of either off-pump (OPCAB) or on-pump (ONCAB) coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) remains unclear despite a large body of literature evidence comparing the two approaches. The potential advantages of avoiding cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB), minimizing aortic manipulation and maintaining pulsatile flow may be associated with reduced inflammatory responses and embolic events. Numerous studies compared OPCAB with ONCAB and the cumulative data have been presented in meta-analyses of both randomized and observational studies. Although there is an abundance of data with respect to the operative morbidity and mortality and the short-term outcomes associated with these two strategies, not much is known about how they impact long-term survival and recurrence of myocardial ischaemic events. Recent studies and meta-analyses have focused on long-term survival and major secondary outcomes in OPCAB vs. ONCAB within the general population. Significant limitations in methodology, however, have raised concerns about the strength of several randomized trials with restrictive inclusion criteria that reduced the populations to those at low risk only, thus creating result bias. Here, we present a review of the best available evidence with a focus on long-term outcomes.